Kewaunee has target on its back this season

Third-year head coach Matt Bosdeck knows his team has a target on its back after back-to-back 17-win seasons.

With Southern Door losing three-time Player of the Year Drew Daoust to graduation, a lot of pre-season talk has Kewaunee — with four All-Packerland players returning — the team to beat in the conference. The Eagles beat the Storm twice last season. Kewaunee’s other conference losses were to Algoma and Oconto, splitting with those two in the regular season. Oconto — which graduated three All-Packerland seniors — then beat Kewaunee in a regional semifinal.

“We try to eliminate the outside noise as much as possible,” Bosdeck said. “I tell the boys if we aren’t picked to win conference, or ranked, or whatever the case is, do we care? The answer is always no. The only opinion that truly matters is our own. No matter who we’re playing, we need to do things the right way. Trying to improve as a team every game to ready ourselves for the next.”

Kewaunee lost outside shooter and hard-driving Cooper Kolmorgen to graduation, but returns a solid group of playmakers. The list includes a first-team All-Packerland guard, six-foot-one senior Avery Jerabek, and three second-teamers from last season, 6-5 sophomore post Dane Harrel, six-foot-four sophomore guard Diesel Bosdeck and six-foot-two senior guard Connor Kilgore.

“With how our team is built, we don’t really worry about who is scoring,” Coach Bosdeck said. “We focus on moving the ball and getting good shots. We are at our best when we have four or five guys in double digits.”

Jerabek is a slashing driver and solid shooter from anywhere on the court, while Kilgore is extremely versatile and can play anywhere. Harrell is a great rebounder and good scorer who is especially quick for his size and Bosdeck is a great defender with a high basketball IQ. Senior Evan Maccaux, a 5-8 guard, is a great facilitator and solid outside shooter. Jackson Walecka, Mason Kovacs and Baylor Elliot will all get their shot off the bench.

“Team chemistry is good,” Bosdeck said. “I think the boys have a fire for what they are trying to accomplish.”

The biggest challenge in the past has been consistency.

“We need to minimize the large runs from other teams, and not fall into shooting droughts,” Bosdeck said.

While the team needs to be ready every night, Bosdeck sees Algoma as perhaps the biggest obstacle to the Storm winning a conference title.

“They’ll be very solid, bringing back multiple key pieces who have a few years of varsity experience,” Bosdeck said.

The Storm hosts Valders Tuesday in the season opener. Matt Delebreau is again assisting Bosdeck on varsity, and Teresa Bortolini returns as JV1 coach. The new JV2 coach is Will Wallerius.